Colin Boswell comes from a farming family. Three generations have forged a living on the chalkland downs in the heart of the Isle of Wight.

However, Colin is as far as it's possible to get from the typical farmer. His creative mind, strong personality and sense of style were honed by a degree in economics followed by three years in the City.

The Garlic Farm, his business in the Arreton Valley, is now famous for growing a wider range of garlic than anywhere else in Europe.

He found inspiration in his mother Norah's garden - she was growing bumper crops of garlic courtesy of the long, hot summers of 1975 and 1976.

Anyone under 40 may find this hard to believe, but in the Seventies garlic was regarded as one of the twin evils of "foreign" cooking - olive oil being the other abomination.

But Colin and Jenny were devotees of the cookery writer Elizabeth David, and they regularly used recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

"Garlic just had an excitement and a curiosity about it," says Colin. "Those two summers produced hard, white cloves that were strong and pungent."

The decision was made and Colin planted his first garlic crop in 1977. Although the summers of the late Seventies and early Eighties reverted to typically British cool, damp affairs, a taste revolution was brewing.

Thirty-four years later, The Garlic Farm attracts droves of tourists and islanders to the shop and restaurant to enjoy all things garlic.

Every July the Boswells, together with their five children and close friends, mount award-winning displays at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

So far their tally is six consecutive gold medals. This year they showed a "Garlic Dalek", made of panels studded with nine different heritage varieties to show off the subtle differences.

Digging for data

It would be easy to assume that the climate on the Isle of Wight is solely responsible for Colin's garlic-growing success.

After all, this small island is blessed with more sunshine hours than any other place in Britain. Even on dull days, light is reflected from the surrounding water.

The weather certainly helps, but over the course of 34 years, Colin has become not just a garlic farmer - but a garlic expert.

"My life is garlic and I will travel anywhere to discover more about it," he says.

Recently, he has trekked high into the mountains of Kazakhstan on donkey-back, accompanied by Jenny, who speaks Russian, to uncover the hidden story of garlic and its ancient beginnings.

He has also made three trips to remote areas of eastern Turkey in search of wild Allium tuncelianum, the "mother of all garlics".

His quest began in the mid-Nineties after a chance encounter with the late Professor William Stearn of Cambridge University. Prof Stearn - dubbed the modern Linnaeus - was a world-famous botanist and taxonomist best known for his book, Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners.

Colin recalls that Prof Stearn was holidaying on the Isle of Wight only a mile away and his daughters visited The Garlic Farm. This led to a meeting with the great man over coffee.

"One morning, this tiny, white-haired man, who had piercing blue eyes, sat down opposite me and asked me what I wanted to know about garlic," he says.

Prof Stearn gave Colin two leads: Peter Hanelt, the world authority on alliums, who was then at the Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben in Germany, and Berthold Laufer (1874-1934), an authority on Chinese culture and an etymologist who had delved into the history of garlic by analysing similarities in its name in different cultures.

Colin visited Hanelt and also read Laufer's most famous book, Sino-Iranica, in an attempt to understand more. He discovered that garlic was first grown in Egypt about 5,000 years ago, before spreading east and north.

In these remote mountain habitats, typical winters are very hard, but summers are hot and dry. The bulbs "wake up" in March as temperatures rise, encouraged into growth by a slow but continual snow melt. They bask in hot sunshine until June and July. Then, as the water dries up, the garlic goes into dormancy for winter.

Colin learned that many regions have their own specific cultivar, adapted to differing climates, with names such as 'French White', 'Persian Star', 'Russian Red' and the unpronounceable 'Mchadidzhvari' from Georgia.

Selecting plants for the best bulbs has had the knock-on effect of producing plants that, even though they still flower, no longer set viable seed. This tends to keep local strains "pure" - adding to the pungent mystique of garlic.

How to grow

In the garden, garlic needs water in the early stages of growth (between March and June) and unbroken warmth.

On the Isle of Wight, this year's dry spring and summer produced large bulbs only on fields that were heavily irrigated on four occasions. However, where watering was less frequent, bulb sizes were reduced by up to two thirds.

No water would have produced a poor crop because garlic, being a member of the allium family, is shallow-rooted and unable to seek out water from the depths.

Colin recommends planting garlic cloves roughly 6in apart and covering with an inch or two of soil. Lift the bulbs as soon as the leaves begin to yellow, or when they lie prostrate on the soil.

Hardneck garlic

The hardneck cultivars (listed under ophioscordon) produce an edible flowering stalk or rocambole: this must be snapped off as soon as it emerges to encourage the bulb to swell.

Hardnecks tend to be associated with colder winters. Their flavour is stronger and the bulbs are usually colourful.

Most are hardy enough to be planted now. They bulb up as the days lengthen, are harvested in June, and generally keep until January.

Closely related to the leek, can be planted now. Produces bulbs up to six inches wide, with a sweet flavour. Roast whole in the oven.

The Garlic Farm, Mersley Lane, Newchurch, IoW (01983 865378; ) The Garlic Farm Cookbook (£9.95) is sold on the website.

Try growing British-raised garlic from The Garlic Farm with this special taster collection. It includes one bulb each of the softneck French variety 'Albigensian Wight' and the hardneck 'Purple Moldovan', plus two cloves of the giant Elephant garlic for just £9.95 including p&p.